Foot-guard for track structures.



w. B. 000KB. FOOT GUARD FOR TRACK STRUCTURES.

APPLICATION FILED AUG, '7, 1909.

1,046,980, Patented Dec. 10, 1912.

"@wssea- I V -E ES HWFf %aa7wm COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH CO.,'WASHXNGTON D c WARNER B. COOKE, 0F JENKINTOWN, 1?

ENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOB. TO WILLIAM WHARTON, JR., & COMPANY, INCORPORATED, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA,

A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

FOOT-GUARD FOR TRACK STRUCTURES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 10, 1912.

Application filed August 7, 1909. Serial No. 511,759.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WVARNER B. CooKE, a citizen of the United States, residing in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Fo0t-Guards for Track Structures, of which the following is a specification.

One object of my invention is to make a practical foot guard which can be readily attached to the rails and locked between two rails placed in close proximity to each other, so as to prevent a foot being caught between the two rails.

A further object of the invention is to so design the foot guard that it will not interfere with the flanges of the wheels traversing the rails.

These objects I attain as hereinafter set forth, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1, is a plan view of suflicient of a switch structure to illustrate my invention; Fig. 2, is a transverse sectional view on the line 22, Fig. 1; Fig. 3, is a perspective view of the foot guard illustrated in Fig. 2; and Fig. 4, is a view of an end of one of the guards illustrated in Fig. 1.

A, A are two rails of a switch structure, in the present instance spaced apart in the ordinary manner and forming the throat of the switch.

a. is the switch point.

When the throat is not protected a person walking the track may accidentally step onto the switch rails and the foot may slip into the throat between the two rails and the sole of the shoe will then become fast between the two rails, preventing the re moval of the foot, and many accidents have occurred due to the fact that the space between the adjoining rails was not closed by a guard. Numerous devices have been devised to close the opening, but they have been more or less unsatisfactory and too costly to be utilized.

My invention is applicable not only to railway switches but to crossings and other railway structures.

By my invention I am enabled to make a very cheap guard, which can be quickly applied and which will not interfere with the flanges of the wheels and yet will prevent the sole of the shoe entering the space under the heads of the rails.

B, B are two guards which may be of sheet metal rolled into shape, having a flange Z) which rests against the web a of the rail, a portion 6 which rests against the head of the rail, and a connecting portion 6 preferably inclined, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and a flat portion 6 which forms the guard proper and which will support the foot 'of a person stepping into the space between the rails. The depth of theinclined portion Z2 is sufiicient to allow the guard to pass the flange of the wheel.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the two guards B, B are identical; one being attached to one rail and the other to the other rail. The foot portions are located close to one another, leaving a sufficient space for the escape of water or dust which may accumulate. The flange portion 6 of each guard is secured to the web of the rail by bolts 0.

Thus it will be seen that by the above construction I make a very cheap and substantial rail guard which, when in place, closes the space between the rails under the heads, so that it is impossible for a persons foot to be caught under the heads of the rails.

It will be noticed that the portion 6 of the guard is of the same width as the portion on the underside of the head of the rail between the web and the inner edge, so that no portion of the head overhangs the guard. There is no liability of the sole of a shoe being caught under the head.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the end of each guard is preferably turned down, as shown at b, Fig. 4, so as to form the end guard to prevent the foot being caught under the guard at the wide end of the throat.

I claim l. The combination, in a foot guard for track structures, of a pair of fixed rails situated side by side, a foot guard disposed adjacent the inner side of the web of each rail, each guard engaging the under side of the head of the rail, and means independently securing each guard to its rail, each of said guards having a depressed portion to allow for the passage of the wheel flanges, each of said depressed portions being on the same horizontal plane with their edges in close proximity with one another.

2. The combination of a pair of fixed rails situated in close proximity to each other, a

foot guard made in two independent sections, one section being permanently secured to the inner side'of theweb of one rail and the other section being permanently secured to the inner side of the Web of the other rail, each guard engaging the under side of the head of its rail and having a horizontal portion extending out from the rail in the same plane, said horizontal portions being depressed to allow for the passage of the Wheel flanges and the two sections substantially closing the space between the rails.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

WARNER B. COOKE.

Witnesses E. F. NORRIS, JOSEPH A. Hnonn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

